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Daily Archives: March 18, 2017

Israel continues talks over additional F-15s

17 MARCH, 2017 SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM

BY: ARIE EGOZI TEL AVIV

Negotiations about a possible follow-on purchase of advanced Boeing F-15s for the Israeli air force are continuing, as the nation’s cabinet seeks a possible alternative to acquiring additional Lockheed Martin F-35s.

In November 2016, the Israeli government approved the purchase of another 17 F-35Is, bringing to 50 the number of “Adir” strike aircraft planned for its air force.

The service has been evaluating a purchase of more F-15Is to maintain its desired mix of strike aircraft with the F-35 to satisfy future operational needs. Its initial requirement was identified as for 75 F-35s, but the need to replace the oldest examples of its Boeing-built fighter has become a high priority issue. Israel has operated the twin-engined type since 1976.

It has been decided that an evaluation of an advanced version of the F-15 should be completed before any additional F-35s are purchased. Israeli sources say ongoing talks with the US Department of Defense are related to a potentially 20- to 25-aircraft deal.

Details have not been disclosed about the aircraft standard being sought, but sources indicate that this would be capable of carrying more missiles, in common with Boeing’s suggested 2040 upgrade configuration for the F-15.

Meanwhile, the Israeli air force in early March opened a dedicated maintenance training centre for the F-35I at Nevatim air base.

The first such facility to be established outside the USA, this will support personnel training related to 25 different technical professions, the air force says.

Israel requires line- and depot-level maintenance for the new type to be performed in-country, with only subsystems to be sent for support and repair overseas. Its air force took delivery of its first pair of Adirs last December.

FNSS beings production for Turkish KORKUT armored vehicle

March 17 (UPI) — ASELSAN and FNSS have began serial production for the Self-Propelled Low Altitude Air Defence Gun System, an armored vehicle project for Turkish ground forces.

FNSS announced the beginning of its work with prime contractor ASELSAN after marking the completion of earlier design and pre-production phase.

FNSS is a Turkish-owned joint venture between BAE Systems and Turkey-based Nurol Holding, which owns 51 percent of the company. The company’s contracts focus on wheeled armored combat vehicles procured by the Turkish military.

The KORKUT system is an armored vehicle solution capable of detecting and tracking targets using a 3D search radar. It is also equipped with a weapon system comprised of two 35mm guns that fire fragmentation ammunition.

The system was built on on an ACV-30 chassis, which the company says was selected for its high payload capacity and mobility. In combat, it is designed to operate alongside other armored platforms such as main battle tanks.

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ACV-30 Platform

Thanks to this feature, the vehicle has the capacity to carry greater payloads such as 105 mm guns and heavy air-defence platforms. The ACV-30 Platform also provides ballistic and mine protection.

The configuration of the vehicle can be changed to suit the operational requirements of the user. The ACV-30 constitutes an ideal platform in terms of command-and control, largescale mobile radar systems, artillery fire support, and pedestal mounted artillery and missile systems.

The Platform was selected as an Air Defence System platform by the Turkish Armed Forces within the scope of the KORKUT and HISAR projects.

The Weapon System Vehicle and Command-and-Control Vehicle configurations designed under the KORKUT Project are fully amphibious and have the capability of propelling themselves in deep water and rivers.

The Low and Medium Altitude Air Defence Missile System (LAADMIS) designed for the HISAR Project has a 3D Search Radar as well as a Pedestal-Mounted (PM) Autonomous LowAltitude Air Defence Missile System platform. These features make HISAR unique in its weight-class owing to its capability to perform command-and-control and fire-control missions on the same platform.

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Mapped: America’s Collective Defense Agreements

By Ben Watson

February 3, 2017

President Donald Trump begins his term as an outsider distrustful of globalization, wary of overseas commitments, and determined to deliver on a promise to restore America’s sovereignty. His first 90 days find him in a particularly unique place for a U.S. president—having spent months suggesting some of America’s defense commitments may be obsolete, while knocking allies from Asia to the Middle East and throughout NATO for not paying the U.S. enough for security.

Now two weeks in and 18 executive orders down, the Trump administration is decidedly charting a new path for the country. And it’s doing so with a new and, at times, puzzling approach toward diplomacy. (Consider the recent messaging uproar from the president’s phone calls with the leaders of Australia and Mexico.) Aside from occasional presidential tweets about World War III, one noteworthy draft executive order leaked to the New York Times in late January entitled “Moratorium on New Multilateral Treaties.” It could offer a window in the future of White House diplomacy. As written, the order would apply “only to multilateral treaties that are not ‘directly related to national security, extradition or international trade.'” Notes the Times, “it is unclear what falls outside these restrictions.”

To America’s allies and fellow treaty signatories from Europe to South America, Trump’s approach “stands in stark contrast to the dominant strain of internationalism that has marked U.S. foreign policy since the days of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman,” Steven Patrick of the Council on Foreign Relations wrote in November. (Less than two months later, House lawmakers introduced a UN membership-ending bill called the “American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2017,” among the first submitted to the 115th Congress in early January.) Since the end of World War II, America’s consistency had been something that “long reassured partners and allies,” said Patrick.

Defense Secretary James Mattis wasted little time in his first days on the job, traveling for four days to visit with counterparts from Japan and South Korea, allies with a careful eye on nuclear-armed North Korea. They are among the most recent to be added to America’s list of collective defense arrangements, pictured below. Not all have kept their original members—NATO expanded, Rio signatories declined—but all remain active, according to the State Department.

Power in alliances

The nations that are allied with the U.S. have 6 million people in total military manpower and account for more than 60 percent of global defense spending (more than $1 trillion), according to a 2017 report from the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation. See the map below for troop counts of each U.S. ally listed under the State Department’s collective defense agreements.

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Full tech transfer could derail Indo-Russian fifth-gen fighter program

By: Vivek Raghuvanshi, March 16, 2017

NEW DELHI — The Indo-Russian fifth-generation fighter aircraft under joint development and production by the two countries has taken a hit, with Russia showing reluctance to fully transfer the aircraft technology, particularly stealth capabilities, despite repeated reminders, according to a top Indian Air Force official.

After the preliminary agreement on the particulars of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) program in 2010, and with both sides having paid $295 million each, the final agreement that enables India to release more than $4 billion, is pending.

The Air Force has worked out its requirements for the FGFA, but the crucial “work sharing and technology sharing draft has yet to be finalized,” the IAF official said.

“The project is likely to get delayed further unless the issue of transfer of technology is finalized,” offered Daljit Singh, a defense analyst and retired Indian Air Force air marshal. India should insist on technology transfer in specified fields, he added, as “full technology transfer may not be feasible.”

Another retiree from the Air Force agreed. “Full technology transfer is not possible since the aviation industrial base in India is not at par with that in Russia,” said Vijainder K Thakur, a defense analyst and former squadron leader.

An Indian Ministry of Defence official said the FGFA would be a joint project and that all technologies should be worked on together. The official would not provide further information.

Konstantin Makienko, the deputy director at the Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said: “The joint project means that the both sides develop the technologies together and become equal owners of them. Therefore it is not about the technology transfer but a joint use of them.”

The Air Force is insisting that an agreement for joint development of the FGFA be reached at the earliest, lest the production of the aircraft be delayed. Any delay “would have serious cascading effect on production of the aircraft for India,” Singh said.

India has a requirement for 120-130 of such swing-role planes with stealth features for increased survivability, advanced avionics, smart weapons, top-end mission computers and 360-degree situational awareness, the Air Force official noted, adding that “the ability to supercruise or sustain supersonic speeds in combat configuration without kicking in fuel-guzzling afterburners is a key Indian requirement.”

For the most part, officials and analysts share a common view that a delay the final FGFA agreement is unlikely to shelve the entire program.

“It’s unlikely that an in-principle agreement between Russian and Indian heads of government would be shelved. If India is unhappy with the extent of technology transfer, it would likely resort to a straightforward, albeit limited, buy, as happened in the case of the Rafale deal [with France]. Doors would be kept open for enhancing the scope of the deal at a later date,” Thakur said.

The Air Force official pointed out that India has worked out operational needs for the FGFA, which the service says could differ from those of the Russians in some aspects. Russia has already moved ahead with its own research and development of the FGFA.

Russia is doing very well with its version of the FGFA, which is called the T-50. The first flight of the T-50 took place in 2010.

In addition, Russia said it will fly the T-50 with the Product 30 engine, giving it Mach 1.5 supercruise, by 2020.

The Indian Air Force wants technology transfer for the FGFA from Russia because it is facing difficulties in the Russian Sukhoi Su-30MKI aircraft due to no availability of spares and technology transfer. India has contracted 272 Su-30MKI aircraft and is license producing the same at state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited facilities.